Posted by Russ/Wyo on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 7:09PM :
In Reply to: Run away posted by Dave on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 2:49PM :
I worked on a dredging operation for 6 years. Our pump engine was a 750 HP Cat D398 that had twin turbos. It also had plates that would trip when the stop was pulled to block off the air to the turbos.
About 20 miles from the plant where I worked was the Mountain Gas Resources natural gas plant. They were doing some maintenance one day and vented a bunch of natural gas that got into a vacuum truck working nearby. The diesel engine of the truck ran away, blew up and set the plant on fire. We could see the fire ball real well from 20 miles off. Nobody was killed thankfully.
About 2 miles from my place in Green River, WY, a construction crew was working on I-80 when a Cat with a ripper ran into a compressed natural gas line. The diesel engine ran away, blew up and set the natural gas on fire. That blast killed 3 men and melted down the Cat dozer and a Cat scraper that were at ground zero. It took hours for the line pressure in the gas line to fall off to nothing. You could see that fire ball for over 50 miles.
Run away diesels are no small deal in natural gas operations.